Delany: Report that Big Ten favors 'Plus-One' playoff is 'erroneous'

Delany termed a Seattle Times story reporting a pro-playoff "consensus" among Pac-12 and Big Ten athletic directors as "erroneous," and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott called it "incorrect."

Big Ten and Pac-12 athletic directors met last week in Newport Beach, Calif., for scheduled sessions on the Rose Bowl and other issues. The Times report, which the paper is sticking to, cited a "straw vote" among ADs favoring to add a fifth BCS bowl game and to create a "Plus-One" that would pit the winners of semifinal playoff games in a championship matchup.

Were it true, it would signal a significant shift in Big Ten thinking and potentially could lead to a full-blown college football playoff.

"To describe the ADs as supportive, I would call that erroneous," Delany said.

Delany declined to comment on whether a straw vote took place and how exactly he knows that a majority of Big Ten athletic directors do not favor a "Plus-One."

"I'm not going to go into the guts of the meeting and where our ADs are or are not," he said. "I can just tell you they are happy with the Rose Bowl and happy with the status quo."

One source said that although a straw vote was taken and that some Pac-12 ADs do favor a "Plus-One," the Big Ten ADs remain strong in their desire to have the Rose Bowl remain either a national title game or a Pac-12 vs. Big Ten showdown -- not a semifinal playoff game.

Sources said BCS coordinator Bill Hancock has asked athletic directors to have on-campus discussions before the end of 2011 regarding potential BCS structural changes.

In the first quarter of 2012, conference commissioners will be asked to specify their preferred format for the next BCS cycle, which runs from 2015-2018, in anticipation of negotiations with TV partners such as ABC/ESPN.

Delany also told the Tribune that any Southeastern Conference expansion -- the league might add Texas A&M and perhaps a 14th school -- would not affect the Big Ten.

"No, we're about as comfortable as we can be with where we are," Delany said. "We've said we will continue to monitor the landscape, but we have closed down active expansion. Every period you look at it, but we don't expect anything the SEC does to affect us."